Chen Kangtuo thought about it—this must be because Mr. Pei didn’t want his ideas to influence others.

Each investor had their ace up their sleeve. If Chen Kangtuo took over everything, handling the site selection and planning for them, then everyone would just coast along. Who would bother to think? Who would pull out their hidden talents?

Mr. Pei’s move must be intended to fully mobilize these investors’ subjective initiative, to make each person contribute their maximum effort!

All this was interpreted according to Tenda’s spirit.

Chen Kangtuo felt that the truth of the matter should be very close to his speculation.

But… these words couldn’t be spoken, because Mr. Pei had his requirements.

Chen Kangtuo found himself in a dilemma.

Seeing Chen Kangtuo’s expressions change while remaining silent, Li Shi also felt somewhat discouraged.

It seemed that appeals to reason and emotion weren’t very effective either.

He wondered how Mr. Pei managed to discipline his subordinates—each one extremely loyal, going east when told east and never west, strictly following orders as if they were golden rules.

He truly knew how to manage his people.

The situation seemed to have reached an impasse, but could they just disperse like this, each going home and reconvening another day?

That certainly wouldn’t work!

Li Shi had no choice. He clapped his hands: “Alright, everyone, quiet down!”

“At this point, we’re all grasshoppers on the same boat. We must rely on ourselves, and no one is allowed to hold back! Anyone who dares to slack off and cause everyone to lose their investment will never work in Jingzhou’s investment circle again!”

“Everyone thinks!”

Seeing Li Shi getting angry, these investors finally accepted reality.

Initially, many had come with the mindset of an easy win and enjoying the benefits. During the discussion, they still harbored many little thoughts, hoping to push all the worrisome matters onto Mr. Pei while securing maximum benefits for themselves.

But now Mr. Pei had left, Chen Kangtuo wasn’t talking, and no one was picking up this thousand-pound burden.

With Li Shi’s outburst, everyone recognized their predicament.

If they didn’t put in effort now, this money would truly go down the drain!

Li Shi took the lead: “I’ll go first. I want to open a horror-themed restaurant, designed like a prison. Each private room will be a cell, and pretty girls dressed as prison guards will serve the food.”

“When entering the restaurant, guests will be handcuffed with fake handcuffs and led into the cells. There won’t be any ordering process—food will be served based on the number of people and dietary restrictions. The food will all be somewhat terrifying-looking dark cuisine, and drinks can be packaged in blood bags like plasma.”

“Additionally, there will be regular prison break performances as entertainment during meals.”

“As for the location… here.”

Li Shi pointed to a certain spot on the map.

Everyone had different expressions—some nodded, some frowned, but no one spoke.

Some had doubts about this location but weren’t sure if their thoughts were correct, so they hesitated to speak up.

Li Shi looked around at everyone: “If no one has any objections, then this project is confirmed.”

Still, no one spoke.

Li Shi was also helpless—it seemed he really couldn’t count on these people.

However, just as he was about to discuss the next project, he suddenly heard coughing from beside him.

“Cough, cough, cough.”

Everyone turned to look and saw Chen Kangtuo covering his mouth, his expression like someone constipated.

This was not real coughing, and he seemed to have something to say.

Everyone waited for his follow-up, but after several blinks of the eye, Chen Kangtuo still hadn’t spoken.

Li Shi was also confused, but after a moment he suddenly realized: “Oh! You’re saying this location isn’t good?”

Chen Kangtuo revealed a smile.

An investor immediately said, “I think so too! Although this place has decent foot traffic, it’s too close to the entrance. What visitor would start eating right after entering? It should be moved further in, so visitors can eat after they’re tired from playing!”

Li Shi nodded and changed to another location: “How about here?”

Chen Kangtuo again showed a constipated expression.

Another investor said, “I think this is too far inside and doesn’t facilitate future expansion of the haunted house.”

Li Shi changed to yet another location: “There should be no problem opening it here.”

This time, Chen Kangtuo smiled.

“Good, then the restaurant location is settled!” Li Shi’s voice was much louder this time, full of confidence.

With one successful case, everyone’s enthusiasm was mobilized, and they all began proposing their projects.

At first, most people thought of ghost themes, such as a ghost hotel, ghost clothing store, ghost magic toy shop, ghost merchandise store, ghost desserts and snacks, ghost tour bus, and so on.

But as the brainstorming deepened and people got tired of discussing ghost themes, some began to propose ideas that went against the grain.

For example, opening an exceptionally warm and cozy maid café to comfort visitors’ wounded hearts, where showing a haunted house experience ticket would get encouragement from a maid, plus a complimentary heart-healing drink.

Creating a healing fountain in the square—appearing as an ordinary fountain but with warm water—telling visitors that washing their hands with the healing spring water could dispel ghosts and heal mental trauma.

Soon, proposals were put forward one after another, thoroughly discussed, and then finalized.

Chen Kangtuo stood to the side, continuously expressing his opinions through facial expressions.

He had been researching the Horrifying Hostel project for several months and had his thoughts on the project’s regional positioning, site selection, supporting facilities, and so on.

For many problematic projects, he immediately hinted with his expressions.

After careful thought, the investors would certainly have someone guess the problem and promptly point it out.

After several such guesses, the plan was thoroughly refined.

In this process, the investors weren’t influenced by Chen Kangtuo’s thinking patterns and came up with what they believed were the best solutions after thorough brainstorming.

The entire discussion process was much faster than imagined.

In just over three hours, the floor plan was filled with writing. Mr. Li and the others had completely divided up the areas surrounding the Horrifying Hostel and arranged various supporting facilities according to optimal regional positioning, including restaurants, hotels, snack shops, toy stores, and everything else needed!

Of course, this was only a small part of the old industrial zone.

All the plans were roughly finalized.

Looking at the clear planning and refined details of the scheme, an investor couldn’t help but marvel: “It’s hard to imagine that we produced this plan in just over three hours!”

Li Shi smiled somewhat speechlessly: “Hmph, if Mr. Pei hadn’t pushed you in this clever way, could you have come up with these plans?”

“Weren’t you all just thinking of setting up some random shops to muddle through?”

Everyone felt somewhat ashamed.

It seemed that was the case!

If Mr. Pei had taken charge from the beginning, everyone would not have bothered to think.

Of course, that’s not to say Mr. Pei taking charge would be bad, but one person’s ideas are always limited. Mr. Pei was busy with work and couldn’t possibly devote all his energy to making these plans. Moreover, he couldn’t accurately know what resources each investor had at their disposal.

Through the current approach, all investors brought out their resources, racked their brains for ideas, and let Chen Kangtuo review them—this was how resources could be utilized to the maximum!

All the investors couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief; the plan looked more and more reliable the more they examined it.

Fortunately, they had withstood Mr. Pei’s test!

If they had slipped away midway and missed such a good project, they would truly have regretted it to the core!

Chen Kangtuo, standing to the side, witnessing this scene, couldn’t help but smile.

Mission accomplished!

While strictly following Mr. Pei’s requirements and not interfering with the investors’ thinking, he had helped them finalize a reliable plan.

This way, the quality of the supporting facilities could also be guaranteed!

Previously, Chen Kangtuo had thought that Mr. Pei should invest the forty million in supporting facilities to improve the weak points.

But Mr. Pei’s approach was to continue investing the forty million in the Horrifying Hostel itself, ensuring a top-tier experience for every visitor. At the same time, he let Mr. Li and these investors take charge of the surrounding supporting facilities, giving them a share of the soup, fully mobilizing their enthusiasm.

As a result, both the Horrifying Hostel project itself and the surrounding supporting facilities were several levels higher than the previous approach!

Chen Kangtuo couldn’t help but feel a heartfelt admiration.

To have already found the perfect solution—worthy of Mr. Pei indeed!

Of course, I’m not bad either.

If I hadn’t worked at Tenda Games for so long and didn’t have a deep understanding of Mr. Pei’s imaginative thinking style, I absolutely wouldn’t have thought of this layer and naturally wouldn’t have been able to complete the task Mr. Pei hinted at.

Successfully deciphering Mr. Pei’s new puzzle today means I’m one step closer to Mr. Pei’s thinking style.

How delightful!